The population of America is growing by a couple of million every year. Yet, that growth isn’t spread evenly. While some states are seeing a population boom, others are going bust.

While births and deaths account can shift the numbers, the biggest movement by far comes from state-to-state movement. However, since some states have significantly stronger economies and sizzling hot job markets, they draw in residents like flies to honey (or workers to money.)

Meanwhile, other states are left to deal with shrinking populations and all the negative consequences that dwindling numbers carry with it. When people leave, they take their income and their talent with them. A substantial enough migration can even impact the political power of a state. We hit the numbers to find the states American workers are fleeing– and where they are moving to.

HOW WE DETERMINED THE STATES AMERICANS DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN 2020

This one was pretty simple. We used population data from the Census’ ACS. We simply calculated the difference between 2018 (the latest year data is available) and 2017. We totaled the percent decrease or increase based on total population. After all, a large state losing a thousand residents will not be nearly as impactful as a small state losing a thousand residents.

Population lost: -7,047
Population decrease: -0.50%
Where are they relocating: California, Texas, Nevada, Washington, North Carolina

Many people are saying goodbye to the Aloha state. Why would people leave paradise? The short answer is– paradise is expensive and not everyone can afford it. Hawaii may have a strong labor market and low unemployment, but when people can afford to live better somewhere else, it’s hard to convince them to stay.